Chapter 55: Clear It? Poke It? What Is He Talking About?

At the very front stood Liu Cuihua’s family.

Her face beamed as she hauled a heavy, overflowing round basket and thumped it onto the table with a dull thud.

“Our few plots of land have these things all over! Weigh it, I bet it’s at least fifty catties!”

Without expression, Xie Cheng took the basket, hung it on the scale, and slid the weight back a couple of times. “Fifty-two catties.”

After saying that, he showed the scale to Liu Cuihua.

A smile instantly spread across her face, impossible to hide.

She wiped her hands on her apron and said gleefully, “I’ll go pick some more in a bit! I’ll bring them over tomorrow afternoon!”

Xie Zhao quickly logged the entry and calculated the payment. “Auntie Liu, twenty-six yuan. Here you go!”

Liu Cuihua accepted the money, overjoyed. The moment Xie Youzhen finished emptying the river snails from her basket, she grabbed it and dashed back outside.

The courtyard erupted in laughter.

“She’s rushing off to rake in money!”

“Look at Auntie Liu! She’s made more in the past two days than she usually does in an entire year!”

“You can say that again!”

*

At that very moment.

In the neighboring courtyard, Wang Jinhua was chopping meat.

She could hear the ruckus from Xie Lao’er’s place clear as day. Over the past two days, news of the river snail buying had spread through the village like wildfire, and everyone knew about it.

But Wang Jinhua refused to go!

Cleaver in hand, she hacked at a rib on the chopping board, making a loud clatter. Gnashing her teeth, she spat viciously.

“Earning a few pennies of hard-earned money! How could that compare to our Jinlong’s success?”

After muttering to herself, she turned and glared at Xie Youshun. “Look at you! Go into town later and find the credit union to deposit the money Jinlong sent home! That’s for his wedding. We can’t touch it!”

Xie Youshun was taken aback.

“He sent back five hundred yuan! Are we only going to have one meal of meat? The boy sent this to show filial piety to us and his grandparents. Surely we can keep a bit more for ourselves?”

He felt a bit unwilling.

Their son, Xie Jinlong, was the first person in the Xie Family to make something of himself.

Xie Youshun was incredibly proud of him.

Xie Jinlong was also filial, sending money home every year so he and Wang Jinhua could eat well and stay healthy.

Especially over the last two years.

He sent back several hundred yuan each year, but Wang Jinhua had quietly saved it all. She claimed Xie Jinlong had only sent ten yuan, then handed over a tiny fraction of that to the communal family fund. In any case, no one else in the family knew about it.

But Wang Jinhua was loath to spend it.

She made Xie Youshun deposit it secretly every time, saying it had to be saved for Jinlong’s future wedding.

“Eat, eat, eat! All you think about is eating! Isn’t one meal of meat enough? How many more do you want?”

Wang Jinhua scolded Xie Youshun, adding, “If you weren’t a cripple, would I have to live such a hard, stingy life? From the fields to the house, is there a single chore I don’t do myself? What can you help with? When Jinlong finds a girl to marry and she comes back to see you, with no money in our pockets, do you think she’ll still want him?”

Wang Jinhua wept as she spoke.

Sitting in front of the stove tending the fire, Zheng Guie could only keep her head down, not daring to utter a single word.

Sigh.

After all, their whole family owed her.

What a sin!

*

Five o’clock in the evening.

The courtyard had finally emptied out.

Tian Xiufen was cooking, and Xie Tian was helping tend the fire. When Xie Zhao walked over, he saw Xie Tian using a wooden stick to write and draw in a patch of ash scattered on the ground.

She was doing math.

Xie Tian was very good at math.

Xie Zhao remained quiet, standing beside her to take a look. He found that every single calculation was correct.

“You really are smart.”

Xie Zhao didn’t hold back his praise. Xie Tian turned around, saw it was Xie Zhao, and flashed him a big, toothy grin.

“Look, big brother! Aren’t I amazing?”

Xie Tian looked incredibly proud. “I get full marks every single time!”

She paused, then lowered her voice. “Mom always says I should find a good family to marry into when I grow up, but what’s so good about that? There’s endless work every day, and you have to give birth and breastfeed. It hurts like crazy. I even saw Sister-in-law crying today!”

Crying?

Xie Zhao was startled, his expression instantly turning serious.

“Why didn’t I know about this?” he asked in a low voice.

Xie Tian stole a glance toward the house and whispered, “Sister-in-law told me not to tell! She said she’d be fine by tomorrow! Even Mom doesn’t know!”

Xie Zhao lost all interest in anything else.

He pulled two tins of clam shell balm from his pants pocket and stuffed them into Xie Tian’s hands.

“Here, one for you and one for Mom. You can use it on your hands or face!”

With that, he rushed into the house.

Inside the room.

Lin Muyu was nursing.

Her brow was furrowed, and she bit her lower lip slightly, her eyes rimmed red. As Xi Bao’er suckled in her arms, waves of sharp, agonizing pain washed over her, and tears instantly spilled from her eyes.

It hurt so much.

A piercing, agonizing pain.

One really shouldn’t underestimate a newborn. They come out of the womb wailing, but as soon as they open their mouths, they know exactly how to nurse.

The moment the baby latches, it’s like being bitten hard by an eel. The forceful, rhythmic sucking chafes the skin raw, and blood often mixes with the milk as it flows.

She could grit her teeth and endure that kind of piercing pain; it would get better once the skin scabbed over and healed.

But the pain of a blocked milk duct was truly unbearable, making it impossible to stop her tears.

Forget breastfeeding.

Even the light friction of her clothes against her skin was excruciating.

The blockage had started this morning.

It happened because Le Bao’er had slept a bit longer than usual and hadn’t nursed in time, so the duct clogged. She had thought a few feedings would clear it, but the blockage only worsened.

By now, even the slightest touch to her left breast brought sharp pain.

Large teardrops rolled down her cheeks, and her body trembled slightly from the pain.

An inexplicable sense of grievance welled up inside her.

The moment Xie Zhao stepped through the door, he saw Lin Muyu sitting with her head bowed, crying.

Startled by the sound, she panicked slightly, quickly turning away and wiping her tears.

“Why are you here?” Lin Muyu murmured. “Aren’t you busy?”

It was just a simple question, but Xie Zhao could detect a hint of grievance and sadness in her tone.

“All done!”

Xie Zhao hurried over and sat down on the edge of the bed. He smiled at Lin Muyu, then looked down at Le Bao’er, who was nursing. “Look at her little cheeks, she’s put on quite a bit of weight. She looks completely different from when she was first born!”

He picked up Xi Bao’er and kissed her little hand, but the little one was asleep. She just let out a little grunt and ignored him.

Xie Zhao: “…”

Lin Muyu turned her head away and sniffled.

From his angle, Xie Zhao could still see a few crystal-clear teardrops clinging to her long, curled eyelashes.

“Little Sister said your milk ducts are clogged, is that right?”

Xie Zhao decided to get straight to the point. Still holding Xi Bao’er, he edged closer to Lin Muyu, staring straight at her.

“How about I clear it for you?”

Lin Muyu was stunned.

Xie Zhao’s suddenly lowered voice was so husky that she misheard him for a second.

She was even dazed for a moment.

Clear it?

Poke it?

Wait, what was he saying?